Bachmann, Perry wrestle over HPV issue

During the last debate, Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry clashed over their positions on the HPV vaccine. During Thursday night's Orlando debate, the issue again emerged.   

Politico: Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry Struggle On HPV Question
There's no winner on the HPV vaccine issue anymore. Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry both struggled to explain their views on the vaccine in Orlando Thursday night, revisiting an issue that the two collided over in the last presidential debate (Burns, 9/22).

Meanwhile, though the deadline has passed for a challenge to Bachmann from bioethicist Arthur Kaplan regarding statements she made linking the vaccine to mental retardation, Caplan says the damage has been done.  

NPR Shots Blog: Silence From Rep. Bachmann As Vaccine Challenge Expires
The high noon deadline for bioethicist Arthur Caplan's $10,000 challenge to Rep. Michele Bachmann has come and gone without a peep from the Republican presidential hopeful. But damage from her statement linking the HPV vaccine with mental retardation has already been done, Caplan says (Husted, 9/22).

Bloomberg: Bioethicist HPV Bet Ends Without Bachmann Acknowledgement
Bioethicist Art Caplan said his challenge to Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann for evidence that a vaccine to prevent cervical cancer caused mental retardation ended without Bachmann acknowledging it. Caplan, director of the center for bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania, offered to pay $10,000 to a charity of Bachmann's choice if she could find such a patient by noon today. Bachman claimed in television interviews on Sept. 13 that a woman told her that the shot, usually given at age 12, triggered mental retardation in the woman's daughter (Lopatto, 9/22).